


Slushies and Soulmates

by LightRedFox



Series: Soulmates AU [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/M, Soulmates AU, also stealth’s an octoling, octo and scuba make a brief appearance, scuba watches too much glee, there’s some scuba x blazer if you squint really hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 15:14:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20677481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightRedFox/pseuds/LightRedFox
Summary: “So you’re telling me you don’t believe in soulmates at all?”“I don’t believe that a few discolored spots of skin will tell people who their future is with.”





	Slushies and Soulmates

**Author's Note:**

> I really like this ship, and had to write something after seeing that the ship tag didn’t even exist.
> 
> Anyway take this really cheesy fic that I finished at midnight.

“When adolescent inklings reach the stage of growth prior to being able to freely shift into squid form, colorful spots or freckles will adorn the back of their neck, upper back, and shoulders. They have been dubbed as Imperfect Chromatophores, and usually occur around the ages of 11-13. The color of the spots can vary from being indistinguishable from the rest of the body, to standing out like a sore spot.” Their Biology teacher droned as she drew an example of where the spots would be located on the blackboard. Not that anyone needed the guide, as almost everyone in the class was doing everything other than pay attention.

Some of the young inklings were playing on their phones while others were fast asleep on their open notebooks. Bamboo sighed as she looked at the mess before her that the school called a class. She had given up trying to pay attention to their teacher’s lecture around the 1 hour mark, and she would have taken a nap if her friend and seatmate Blazer hadn’t scolded her. Even with her friends, the class president was never lenient on misbehavior or slacking off, shown especially in how Blazer was still dutifully taking notes of everything the teacher said, even humming a bit as she jotted down another sentence.

“Scientists and decades of research have concluded that these spots are caused by malfunctioning chromatophores, hence the name. As you may recall, these cells each contain an elastic pigment filled sac that allows us to change color at will once we come of age. A complex array of nerves and muscles controls whether the sac is expanded or contracted, which affects the colors visible to everyone. However, the colors of these spots will never change naturally, only being able to be removed through outside forces, such as laser removal or similar processes.” She turned to face the half asleep class and loudly rapped her knuckles against the board, awakening her students and catching the attention of the rest.

“Any questions?”

Blazer’s hand shoots up immediately, but so does another. To everyone’s surprise, Octoglasses’ hand is raised completely erect. The teacher raises an eyebrow.

“Yes, Miss Octoglasses?”

“So, like, about those soul spots. Is it true that they’re connected to your soulmate?” A few of her classmates perk up in interest after hearing the question, including Bamboo.

“The correct term is Imperfect Chromatophores. And to answer your question, while there have been numerous reports over the years of the spots of certain individuals having the same pigment as the original ink color of their partners, there has yet to be a scientific explanation for this occurrence. As such, they can only be chalked up to a coincidence for the time being.”

“But how do you explain the spots glowing whenever you’re near your special someone?” Their teacher rolls her eyes.

“The same reason our cheeks turn blue whenever we are embarrassed; it’s just the blood rushing through.”

The bell rang loudly, signaling the end of the class. The teacher began to put away her materials.

“Well, that’s all for today’s lesson. Head on to your next class. And for the record kids, don’t believe everything you read online.” Octoglasses huffed angrily at the comment pointed at her as the teacher lifted up her bag and exited the room, followed soon afterwards by a mob of inklings all trying to exit the narrow doorway at the same time.

Bamboo zipped up her backpack and slung it onto her shoulders just as Blazer finished putting the last of her books in her giant messenger bag.

“So, what did you think of today’s lesson?” The inkling asked her friend as she slung the heavy bag over her shoulder with a small grunt.

“I stopped listening halfway through.” She let out a small yawn.

“Bamboo! You know we have a quiz about this next week!” Blazer scolded her friend, who simply shrugged in response.

“I can review your notes later, as usual.” The responsible inkling gave an angry huff of disappointment in her friend, but Bamboo knew she didn’t mean it.

“Fine. Anyway, I was talking more about that last part of the lesson. About the soul spots-er, imperfect chromatophores.”

“What about them?” She asked as they exited the classroom and into the busy hallway.

“Well, don’t you find them interesting? They appear out of nowhere, and then you’re supposed to find your soulmate based only on their ink color! How crazy is that?” She threw her arms up in exaggeration.

“It is crazy. Don’t know why people believe in those rumors.” Blazer raised an eyebrow.

“So you’re telling me you don’t believe in soulmates at all?”

“I don’t believe that a few discolored spots of skin will tell people who their future is with. If anything, it was made up as a marketing ploy towards those desperate for love, and spiralled out of control when it worked on a few people.”

“Enlighten me, then. What makes you think that?”

“Once people started to believe that the color of those spots determined their partners, all those scam products popped up to take gullible people’s money. All the claims to ‘challenge fate’ through ordinary facial cream when you already had the ability to date anyone you please?” Bamboo scoffed.

“Ridiculous.”

“Wow. You’re really holding nothing back.”

“People can’t just believe that they’re meant to spend the rest of their life with a stranger who happens to have the same ink color as some spots on their skin. Love isnt found at first sight; it’s developed through time and trust.”

“Hmm, I agree with that, but then what if your soulmate is someone you’re already familiar with? Like, y’know…” Blazer nudged her friend, who just rolled her eyes.

“For the last time, Blazer. Whatever you think you see between me and Stealth is all in your head.” She flicked her finger against her friend’s forehead, receiving a stuck out tongue in response.

“I’m just saying, it’s a possibility…”

“You already know what my spots look like.” They stopped walking for a moment to open their respective lockers, taking out and replacing books for their next class.

“I know. They’re a really pretty deep pink-”

“With specks of maroon.” Bamboo slammed her locker shut. “In other words, nothing like Stealth’s ink.”

“Ok, but that‘s another one of my points. If soulmates really aren’t real, like you say, what’s stopping you from dating other people, like you-know-who?”

“Have you maybe considered that I don’t feel like being in a relationship right now?”

“Nope! Because we both know that’s not true.” She grinned, tilting her head a bit to the left. “Ah, speak of the devil.” 

As if on cue, Stealth walked out of a classroom door and spotted the two inklings chatting next to their lockers.

“H-Hey guys.” Stealth walked up to them as they waved back.

“Hi Stealth. How was Physics?” Blazer asked.

“Tiring as u-usual. I bet Biology is a lot m-more interesting than a bunch of calculations.”

“Nah, not really.” Bamboo shrugged. “It was boring enough that I dozed off a couple of times. Each time Blazer was rude enough to wake me up.”

Stealth laughed a bit at the remark, and Bamboo felt an odd warmth coming from her face. She chose to ignore it.

“I wish I could’ve slept through my lesson too, but we had an experiment today. I got stuck in the same group as Goggles and, well,” He rubbed the back of his helmet. “you can guess how that turned out.”

Bamboo observed as her two friends chatted aimlessly about their day, sometimes contributing to the conversation herself. The inkling wouldn’t admit it to a single person, but Blazer’s teasing wasn’t coming out of nowhere. She wouldn’t go so far as to say that she had a ‘thing’ for Stealth, but she definitely noticed the smaller things about him that no one else seemed to pick up. The way he always had his hands fidgeting around when standing still, his stuttering stopping after he was comfortable enough with the conversation, his clear avoidance of eye contact,

The pink blur approaching from behind him that’s getting closer by the second-

Bamboo only had enough time to cover her face with her arms before a sudden splashing sound was heard. Stealth let out a yelp of shock as Scuba ran as fast as he could down the hall, roaring in laughter. The remains of a perfectly good red slushie is spilled all over Stealth’s back, and some parts of Bamboo amd Blazer’s clothes. He’s already met up with Aloha and turned the corner when Blazer shakes off her shock and replaces it with anger.

“SCUBA!” She yelled angrily before sprinting after him, her class representative instincts kicking in.

Bamboo quickly helped Stealth up and dragged him to the nearest bathroom away from the student body’s laughs and gazes. She slammed open the door and locked it the moment he took a seat on the counter, still wincing from the sudden chilly attack.

“Ugh, what was that for? I didn’t think correcting his boardwork was enough to get on his bad side.”

“He’s probably been watching too many of those TV dramas. Did any of it get into your clothes?” She asked as she grabbed a large amount of toilet paper from next to the sink, the last of it rolling onto the ground as the brown core spun around the empty dispenser.

“Yeah, a lot of it.” He takes his helmet off, revealing his yellow green tentacles and round face. His dark green eyes are soft in appearance, with pink circles surrounding each one on the outside. His ears are floppy compared to the sharpness of an inkling’s, and his features seem less blocky in general.

“Then take it off.” She said bluntly, placing the gathered tissues next to Stealth before heading towards the Janitor’s closet to look for more.

He removed his camo hoodie and squeezed as much liquid out as possible, the remaining red slush falling into the sink.

“Turn around.” Stealth did as instructed and faced the mirror just as Bamboo resurfaced with another roll of tissue paper. She pressed large amounts of it into the damp parts of his uniform, staining them red immediately. The used ones were discarded and new ones took their place, joining their stained brethren moments later. Stealth squeezed the last of the slush out of his hoodie and turned on the air dryer next to the sink, heating up the cold article of clothing.

As she helped Stealth, Bamboo couldn’t help but chance a glance at the back of his now exposed neck. Maybe it was Blazer’s talk about soul spots getting to her head, but she had the urge to check their color for even just a second. It was completely normal, no surprise there. Just some clear tan skin with no blemishes-

She did a double take before tilting her head in confusion.

“That’s odd.”

“What is?”

“You don’t have any of those colored spots the rest of us have.” She poked the middle part of his neck before continuing to dry off his uniform.

“Oh, yeah. They got burned off when the moment they showed up.” 

“What?”

“Where I come from, they look down upon the whole soulmates thing. They think it’s too distracting in our lives, so they made it customary to get them removed with a laser or something. Hachi and his team don’t have them either.” He explained, touching the area around his upper back.

“That’s...a bit harsh, though I can see the reasoning behind it.” She paused a bit.

“So, does that mean you don’t have a soulmate?” He shrugged in response.

“Who knows? It doesn’t bother me much anyway. When I meet my special someone, I want them to like me for who I am, not for my ink color.”

“That’s...really sweet, Stealth.” She spoke softly. His cheeks turned a light blue at the comment. “Heh, I guess it did sound a bit cheesy. A-Anyway, I didn’t think you were interested in this sort of stuff.”

Bamboo’s face flushed, the grip on the tissues in her hands tightening. “I’m not. Blazer was just rambling about the topic earlier so it was on my mind.”

She elected to change the topic by focusing on wiping away the flavoured ice from the back of his head, frowning when her efforts seemed to be futile.

“The coloring they use in this stuff must be strong, I can’t get some of it off your tentacles.”

“Can I see?”

He shifted his body 90 degrees and looked at the back of his head using the mirror. Small maroon specks were gathered near the tips of his tentacles and his scalp.

“Nah, you got most of it off. The pink’s probably from my original ink color.”

Bamboo froze.

‘The soul spots are the same pigment as your soulmate’s original ink color.’

“Oh...I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, I guess I never told you guys since it never came up. Wanna see?”

She nodded her head before her mind could fully process his offer. Stealth closed his eyes and in a flash, turned his hair from the yellow green he normally sported to a deep pink.

“Well, what do you think?”

She stared at his tentacles. More specifically, his tentacles that were now a deep pink with specks of maroon. The back of her neck begins to heat up as the realization slaps her across the face.

“Bamboo? Is there something wrong?” He changed his ink color back to the yellow green she was used to, a concerned look on his face.

‘Everything is wrong.’

“N-Nothing.” She shook the forming blush off her face and threw the soaked tissues into the garbage bin, the area around her neck still warm.

The bell rang, signifying the start of their next class, and saving Bamboo from an awkward conversation.

“Ah! I still need to get my books from my locker!” Stealth quickly strapped his helmet on and slid into his hoodie, shuddering from the cold spots around the back.

“Thanks for the help, Bamboo! See you in class!” He gave her a big smile that made her heart skip a beat before bolting out the door. It slowly swung back and forth as Bamboo stared at it, the warmth she felt still lingering.

She hesitantly lifted the small tentacles covering the back of her neck and looked in the mirror, praying against all odds that it wasn’t what she thought it was.

The spots are glowing a neon pink.

She can already visualize Blazer’s shit eating grin.


End file.
